Africa-Press – Mozambique. The General Command of the Mozambican police force has ordered all the provincial police commands to collect and remove from the market razors of the Alshabab brand, reports Tuesday’s issue of the independent newsheet “Mediafax”.
According to an instruction from the General Command, dated 21 June, razors of this brand could be used by the islamist terrorists operating in the northern province of Cabo Delgado for propaganda purposes. The terrorists are commonly known as “Al-Shabaab”, although they do not seem to have any connection with the terrorist group of the same name. In Arabic, “Al-Shabaab” simply means “the youth”.
Mozambique: PRM concerned about circulation of ‘Al-Shabaab’ brand razors – Carta
There is an Alshabab razor which can be purchased on the Internet for 91 US cents. The advert for the razor boasts of ‘blades made of high quality stainless steel electronically controlled throughout the grinding and honing process to help provide smooth shaving performance and comfort”.
The razors are Chinese and can be obtained from the website Alibaba.com. They have been manufactured and sold long before there were any terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado.
The term used by the General Command is “maquina de barbear”, which normally translates as electric shaver. But AIM’s internet search turned up plenty of references to Alshahab razors but none to an electric version. However, in Portuguese, “maquinas de barbear” is frequently used merely to refer to the blades.
According to the note signed by the General Commander of the police, Bernadino Rafael, the Alshabab razors are on sale in various markets in the central province of Manica. But it is thought that they may be on sale in many other parts of the country – which is very likely, since they are cheap and readily available from the Internet.
The police are concerned that there the Mozambican Tax Authority (AT) has no record of any imports of this brand, and they suspect the razors may have entered the country illicitly.
Rafael instructed the provincial police commands to analyse any information related with the Alshabab razors “and other materials associated with propaganda actions of the terrorist group”.
He instructed all police units to “strengthen control over the circulation of merchandise in coordination with customs authorities at the control posts”.
The police are also concerned with recent attacks on police units in Tete and Nampula provinces “undertaken by small groups of people passing themselves off a victims in order to gain access to the interior of the police stations”. Rafael said this recalled the early stages of the terrorist raids in the Cabo Delgado district of Mocimboa da Praia, in October 2017.
He instructed the police to step up vigilance and patrolling, in cities, towns and villages “in order to disrupt and combat and adverse phenomena that threaten public order and security”.
Mozambique
Mozambique Police letter not only refers to razors called al-shabab as propaganda but also assaults on small police posts in Tete and Nampula. Gained entry as “passing victims”. If verified, this is a reminder of the way the insurgency started in MdP.
